Unleashing the Evil
by kilnorc
Summary: Professor Raymond Knowby discovered Necronomicon Ex Mortes, the Book of the Dead, and brought it to a cabin in the woods to study it. What he did, however, was something that will change his, and others lives for all time. One shot.


**Unleashing the Evil  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Evil Dead series.**

**Kilnorc: I got this idea after watching Evil Dead II again recently. We know about Ash, the book, and the Army of Darkness...but what do we know about the man who found the book, or his final hours? This is what I think may have happened.**

* * *

"Oh my, it's a cozy little cabin, isn't it, Raymond?"

"Indeed it is, Henrietta, it's perfect for a little getaway and a chance to finish my research,"

Two somewhat elderly people climbed out of a large truck and looked contently at a small cabin in front of them. The cabin was small, simple, but looked very inviting. It even had a bench swing in the front and two large windows, one on each side of the front door.

Henrietta Knowby, a frumpy woman walked over to her husband Raymond, a man with a distinguished professor with a humble look about him and took his arm, placing her head on his shoulders.

"You don't see places like this anymore, do you, Ray?"

"No, my dear Henrietta, you don't," Professor Knowby patted her arm, chuckling, "No, you don't. It's a lost paradise, it is. I just hope that Annie will like it,"

"She will," his wife gave him a peck on the cheek, "Come on dear, it's getting late. I'll make dinner while you do your work," she pulled away and took an early start ahead of him, "I hope Annie finds those missing pages, dear,"

"I do too, because we need those to complete the translations," Ray called after her as he opened the backdoor to the truck. In the back seat were their bags and among them was a large knapsack. Knowby smiled as he pulled that out of the car and looked at it's contents.

Inside was a tape recorder, complete with small microphone, his notebook, a large, wicked looking dagger with a skull-like head on the end and a jagged blade on the other, and a very old, worn book that seemed to bound in leather. He took the book out with care and looked at it for the umpteenth time since he found it sometime before. The pages were quite old and had some very disturbing pictures drawn on the wrinkled pages, and the cover itself would send shivers down anyone's spine when they first gazed on it, but Knowby was used to this appearance. After all, he'd have it with him ever since he discovered it.

"Coming, Raymond?" his wife called from the porch.

"Yes, dear!" the professor called back, quickly placing the book back into the knapsack, "Just getting our things!"

* * *

After some early work, a hot meal and as Henrietta sat down in a comfortable rocking chair to do some knitting, Raymond sat down at a small desk a few feet away, the book, his notebook, the dagger and the tape recorder all in front of him. With preparations done, he took the microphone and pressed **RECORD** on the machine.

"This is Professor Raymond Knowby, Department of Ancient History, Log Entry Number 2," he glanced at the strange book, "I believe to have made an interesting discovery in the castle Kandar. Having traveled there with my wife Henrietta, our daughter Annie, and associate Professor Ed Getley. It was in the rear chamber of the castle, that we came across something remarkable: _Naturon Demonto_...the Book of the Dead. My wife and I," he cast a glance and a smile to Henrietta, who returned the loving smile, "...brought the book to this cabin, so that I may study it undisturbed. It was here that I began the translations," he looked down at his notebook, which was filled with bizarre writing, "The Book speaks of a spiritual presence, an evil, that roams the forests and the dark bowers of man's domain. It is through the recitation of the book's passages that gives the presence license...to possess the living. Recorded here are the pronunciations of those passages,"

He cleared his throat and looked closely at his book.

"_Kanda...Es-trata...Montos...Ea-grets...Gat...Nos-feratos...Kanda...Amantos...Kanda..._,"

He pressed STOP and leaned back in his chair, "Absolutely fascinating, Henrietta, absolutely fascinating," he turned around to see that the rocking chair his wife was sitting in was empty, "Henrietta?" he looked around, "Henrietta?"

No answer.

_She must've gone to bed or something...has it really been that late?_ Knowby looked over to the clock to see that it was indeed very late, _I could've sworn that it was somewhat earlier than **that**!_ he rubbed his eyes.

"I think I'll pick this up later. No need to pressure myself, I have plenty of time before Annie gets here...," he closed the book and pushed away from his desk.

* * *

_**"Join us...,"**_

_**"Join us...,"**_

_**"Jooooooooooin...uuuuuuuuuuuussss...,"**_

_**"JOIN US!"**_

Knowby's eyes popped open and he bolted upright. He looked around the bedroom quickly, having just heard strange voices call out to him.

"H-Hello?"

Nothing.

_I could...I could have just sworn I heard someone..._ Knowby slowly climbed out of the bed he was sharing with his wife and made his way cautiously to the living room. As he entered, he saw that his wife was up and out of the bed, sitting in her rocking chair, humming the song she used to sing to Annie when she was a baby.

Raymond sighed in relief, _Knowby, you old fool, age is making you hear things!_ he chuckled and walked up to his wife, whose back was to him, "Dear, what are you doing up? It's late,"

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, stopping in her humming, "I thought I'd knit some more,"

"Ah, well...," the man yawned, "Don't stay up too late, my dear, alright? It's not good for your health," he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the head, "I love you, Henrietta,"

"Love you, too, dearie,"

All of a sudden, Henrietta grabbed Knowby with both hands with surprising strength, she not only pulled him over her, but she managed to throw him into the opposiing wall. Knowby hit the wall hard and hit the ground, stunned at his wife's doings and her new strength.

"H-Henrietta, wh-wh-what are you...doing...," he stared in horror at the thing that had just thrown him half-way across the room.

It looked like Henrietta, but only in the vaguest sense. As it stood on both legs, Professor Knowby got a very good look at the creature. It had pale flesh, it's hair was stringy and greasy, it's teeth were not only in disarray but looked like it never even saw a dentist once, and finally...

The eyes...

It's eyes were milky white. They were white and had no pupils whatsoever.

"Henrietta? Is that you?!"

"Henrietta" cackled, **"She's with us, now, and forever she shall stay with us!"**

"Who is us?!" Knowby demanded, "What the hell are you?!"

The thing just cackled some more,** "Hell...yes, hell...,"**

"Answer me, damn you!"

**"We are eternal, for we have existed since the Creation! We are eternal, we are mighty and we shall bring hell upon your world!"** the creature began to float and hover a good few feet off the floor, spooking Knowby even more, **"Listen well, for the hour of your demise is at hand, moral! Things that were...shall be again!"**

"W-Wha-?"

**"Dead by dawn!"** the creature began to laugh madly, **"Dead by dawn, dead by dawn, dead by dawn! You and all mortals shall feed us with your souls and become our servants!"**

"What do you want?!"

**"We want what you have! We want what everyone has...,"**

"Which is-?"

**"LIFE! Now,"** the creature landed on it's feet and grabbed the sewing needles from chair, **"DIE, MORTAL!!"**

* * *

Time passed in the night, and night became day, and day became evening very quickly. The sound of blood-curdling screams, foul laughter and rantings from a...a thing...filled the lonely cabin in the woods for a good while, until it came to an abrupt halt. Shadowy figures moved from behind the windows and after some time, a lone figure walked across the cabin, dragging a shovel as it walked.

Knowby, covered in the blood of his wife, slumped into his desk chair, trembling and what he had just done, what he had to do in order to survive. Without a word, he looked through his notebook and the Book, trying to find an answer...or perhaps a form of twisted comfort in what he had just done.

As he sat there, reading both books, he could hear many things. He could hear voices, foul voices from another world, taunting him, threatening him...driving him mad. He could hear things move about the outside the cabin over the ever-growing volume of the clock.

_Tick tock...tick tock...tic tock...**TICK TOCK**...**TICK TOCK**...**TICK TOCK**...**TICKTOCKTICKTOCKTICKTOCKTICKTOCKTIC**-_

Knowby grabbed his head and shut his eyes, "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT, DAMN YOU!" he screamed to the unseen evil that tormented him.

The ticking stopped. He looked over his shoulder to see that the clock had been stopped somehow. He knew full well what it was that lurked outside, what took over his loved one, and what was now trying to drive him insane. His hand still shaking, he reached over and grabbed the microphone for the tape recorder and pressed **RECORD.**

"It's only been a few hours since I've translated and spoken aloud the first of the demon resurrection passages from the Book of the Dead. Now...," he choked as tears formed in his eyes, "...I fear that my wife has become host to a Kandarian Demon. May God forgive me for what I've unleashed onto this world," he checked the time and turned back to the recorder, "Last night, Henrietta...tried to...kill me. It is now October 1st, 4:30 PM, and Henrietta is dead. I could not bring myself to dismember her corpse, so I took her down the steps and buried her. I buried her in the cellar...," he glanced at the trapdoor on the other side of the room, near the kitchen and hallway, his voice cracking, "Dear God, I buried her in the earthen floor of the fruit cellar!"

He sat there for a good while, listening for any hints of the Evil outside. But, all he heard was nothing.

Nothing at all.

He pressed **STOP** and looked at the damned Book in front of him.

"To think, I believed that finding you would have made a considerable footnote in history," he said softly, eyes still filled with tears, "Instead, I have unleashed a terrible force onto this world and though I wish to stop it, to correct the mistakes I have made...I cannot," he reached for the book and opened it up to the back, looking at bits of paper in the binding.

Some pages were missing.

"If there was any hope of exorcising this Evil, it lies in the person who can find the missing pages. I just pray that whoever manages to find the pages, they can destroy this Evil and send it back to the Hell where it belongs before anymore people die or anyone else becomes like my dear, sweet, Henrietta...,"

Through talking to both himself and the Book, Knowby placed the book alongside his diary and the tape recorder. Seconds later after he placed the book down, the front door ot the cabin burst open, but he didn't jump at the intrusion. He knew what had come for him...he also knew that he couldn't destroy it...so there was only one thing left to do.

Calmly, Professor Raymond Knowby rose from the desk, pushed the chair in, said a quick prayer under his breath and turned to face the Evil that was now hovering in front of him, staring him down.

"Alright...," he raised his arms, "Come and get me, you bastards,"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Okay, for some reason, I thought I'd write my own take on Knowby's final hours among the living before the events of The Evil Dead series. I wasn't sure how it would've gone in the actual film series, or if it was ever mentioned in post-movie comics, since I've never read them, so I hope that if any hardcore ED and AoD fans are reading this, they'll go easy on me, and possibly sympathize with _this_ Ed/AoD fanatic.**


End file.
